Explanation:
At least 34 meteors are included in
this
composite image as they
rain through Australian skies during the annual
Geminid Meteor shower.
Dust particles strung out along the orbit of extinct comet
Phaethon vaporize
when they plow through planet Earth's atmosphere causing the
impressive display.
Although the particles are traveling parallel to each other,
the resulting streaks clearly seem to radiate from a single point
on the sky near Gemini's twin stars
Castor
and Pollux at the
lower right.
The radiant effect is due to
perspective, as the parallel tracks
appear to converge at a distance.
Taken over a period of 2 hours on the morning of December 14, short
exposures recording individual meteor streaks
were combined with a single long exposure to show the
background stars, with Sirius
at the top, and the constellation Orion at left.
Faint stars and nebulae of the Milky Way track
through the center of the frame.
Near the radiant point, an extra star in Gemini is actually
the flash of a meteor seen almost head-on.
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